Love the burgers. They are juicy and flavorful. The Big Gritty--two patties-- is more than enough. I paired mine with fresh cut fries and a Guinness. My wife had the Gritty Burger and she loved it. If you join the rewards club you get a free burger and beer plus a souvenir mug on your birthday. Don't miss Nitty Gritty. read more

Always a good place to come for breakfast on the weekends, quick lunch during the day or to have a cocktail!

Good place to get a burger for yourself and the family. Great service, I called ahead and our table was ready when we got there. Overall great experience. read more

Anyone ever order food, most awful presentation. Food is delivered on a rectangular metal tray, hardly fits, falling all over non sanitary tables, flies battling for your food. Friendly staff, have zero clue how to prepare, serve food. read more

I like the variety of burgers that they have - and that they can do them gluten free. It can be a little loud, especially at nights or during sports ball. If they had a GF fryer, I'd give them 5 stars. read more

My stomach is still not right after eating there two days ago. My sister-in-law was sick all day yesterday as well. I'm not a fan of the Nitty Gritty but for some reason my family wanted to come here. We were seated upstairs even though the restaurant was empty at 11a on a Saturday. The waitress was friendly enough but once our orders were taken she was MIA until the food came out 25 minutes later. I had to go downstairs to refill our drinks. There must've been 15 employees there, most of them standing around. While the food tasted good, it obviously wasn't cooked properly or had some other issue I'd rather not think about. My brother ordered their fried donuts, took one bite and pushed them aside. He said they tasted just like their fries and everything else they deep fry. My cousin's burger had so much gritty sauce on it that it literally poured out of the back end when he took his first bite. My aunt ordered the same burger and hardly had any gritty sauce on hers. Service at ANY Nitty Gritty is typically slow and spotty, even when it's not busy. I find their food to be average and way over-priced. I know it's the "Birthday Bar" but you can typically drink for free at a lot of other places with better service and food (and you don't have to stick to tap beers). Silver Eagle allows you to drink rail booze, tap beers AND they give you a free burger and birthday shot - so the Gritty's birthday specials CAN be beat. read more

This place is great for birthdays. You get your glass mug filled with beer, soda, or juice with unlimited refills, while also getting a very small ice cream sundae at the end. The burgers were very tasty and cooked as requested. Our server was very good and on top of refills and food came out of the kitchen pretty quick. I liked the atmosphere in the dining area with tv's mounted throughout the restaurant. The bar area was not huge, but I could see it being a fun atmosphere later on in the night. read more

Nitty Gritty Middleton - American Near Me - Middleton, Wisconsin

We have been to this Nitty Gritty a bunch of times and usually would be a 4 out of 5. The food is above average and prices aren't to bad. Food always seems to come out a longer than usual. I could tell tonight was not going to be good. My wife asked our waitress what the drink specials were and she said " i think we have some but i dont know what they are, they are on a board over by the bar." As i lean around my booth to look she says "o you can't see them from here they are on the other side of the wall at the bar." So you would think she would go look......you'd be wrong. So i then tell my wife while our server is there that i guess she will have to get up and go look at the board herself, as our waitress stans there and says nothing. Nooooo "let me check on those for you or heavens no you shouldn't have to get up yourself when its my job or i should know the specials. So we never found out the specials but ordered 2 burgers. Mine comes out with the wrong cheese on it, and to her credit she says do you want a new one? However ive waited tables for 6 years so it shouldn't have even made it out of the kitchen like that. However we have a 2 year old so this is not an option to wait for another burger to be made. After that we see our waitress 1 time every 10 to 12 minutes. Sat with 2 empty drinks for about 10, then other staff deliver refills, a box for food and the bill for her. Weve been here about 5 times before but honestly with all the restaurants Madison has to offer, we probably won't go back, especially if she is out waitress again. read more

Mixed feelings on this one. Had a coupon for buy one get one burger (but the fine print says it's only good for an amount about a buck cheaper than their cheapest burger so it's more like buy one get one at 80% off...tricky tricky) But the burgers are definitely everything people rave about. Not a fan of their bland chips and salsa...too used to Laredo's. And the beer seems to be where they make their money. But the food was MMM- GOOD! My main issue was we put some of the bill on a card, and the rest we paid cash, sort of splitting my girls food and mine. All I can say is always check your bill, especially if using a coupon and paying cash. Server took the coupon the moment we arrived, it later turned out the receipt we got did not include the discounted amount so we had overpaid almost $10, we returned with our receipt sans discount and they produced a receipt WITH the discount on it, time stamped at the same time, and lame excuses. So what... Our server just "accidentally" kept the real receipt and gave us one without the discount on it when she clearly printed them at the same time? The manager refunded us, patted my hand and said "it's OK hon" to my girl like she was the idiot who somehow messed up (she's a banker, she can do this stuff in her head) , and like we meant to tip 60% for a server we had to flag down for refill 3 times. He gave a half assed apology like sorry but my server wouldn't do that. And for the customer service issues, as well as how they were handled, we will not be returning. read more

No Service at desk. No sign to wait to be seated. Figured short staffed. Went to bar to see if they had specials. Were told they did not start till 8PM, so said we would just take water but were going to go sit to eat in. The lady at that time was NOT busy. I think they got offended because we did not buy a beer do to their so called happy hour not starting till 8 PM. It used to run till 6 PM, so we were a little surprised. We seated ourselves Waited for 15 minutes and waitress walked by 3 times never said a word. I then went to get a menu and same person handed us 2 before I could even ask. She knew we had been waiting a long time. all someone had to say is will be with you shortly. Sat for another 15 minutes, no service. We then realized we were wasting our time sitting their. On our way out we stopped a person who worked their we asked if he was a manager he said yes. We told him we had been waiting forever and where leaving handed him our menus and said we were leaving. No apology just ok . Don't wast your time they don't need your business. There was a waitress really busy but another at the bar chit chatting. Love their gritty burgers and have gone there many times. This was unacceptable and not very business like!! read more

Great food, quick service, friendly staff. This has become our top grab & go place during quarantine. It's proximity to our home, value pricing, and excellent quality gives it a leg above other area places. read more

Garlic Burger was amazing...top 10 list of most amazing burgers...friendly staff and nice atmosphere.. read more

Far in my past are the days of rushing to the Gritty the moment it opened on my birthday and getting started on my free beer in the short time -- ok, hours -- before my friends arrived. However, a group of us comes here on summer Thursday nights quite regularly to take advantage of the outdoor patio with a lovely parking lot view on $3 craft beer night. If you're there for the 10 o'clock Power Hour, it's almost like every day is your birthday because the High Lifes are just a buck. Throw in some appetizers (the wings are great for a non-wing place) and of course, the occasional Gritty Burger because for the love of all things iconic to Madison, we are at the Gritty! The staff, from the bartenders to the servers on up to management, has been great to us every time. West Side pub options are somewhat limited, but the Gritty helps solve that problem. read more

Nuh uh. Nope. No no no. My daughter wanted to eat here for her birthday this year, having eaten at the one downtown successfully 4 years ago. Her birthday, her pick. Plus, she delights in the free mug of soda and balloon. She's a birthday sell-out and I think that must be how they suck you in. But, I digress. Our order took an aggravatingly long time to arrive and our glasses remained empty after having drunk their contents while waiting. There was a Packers game on and many of the wait staff were watching that. I don't know if that was the hold up, but it was a bit irritating. When our meals finally arrived, my children discovered that the insides of their burgers were very pink. Waaaaay too pink for medium well, which they ordered. It was scary pink and super soft--like raw hamburger generally is. When I told our waiter about it, he was completely uninterested in helping fix the situation, and instead, argued with me about it for quite a while, finally saying, "That's what medium well looks like" in a tone that suggested that I was simply too stupid to know the difference. I'm not. Finally I convinced him to humor me and take them back to be cooked through. He did so with a smidgen of contempt. As a side-note, my husband's burger was to be well done and was also pink, though not raw. Still no drink refills. No one offered a discount, a refund, a free soda while we waited, and especially not an apology. Obviously we won't be back. read more

Tonight the fam got Nitty Gritty takeout, and for me it was a disappointment. I had suggested the NG because I'd been craving chicken tenders all day. In the past, NG's chicken appeared to be hand-breaded and had a decent dose of pepper in the breading to give it some flavor. Tonight's offering was a step above cafeteria chicken strips. Flat, factory-breaded, flavorless, and all of them with that gross gooey translucent strip of whatever you get in cheap chicken. Making it worse was the addition of soggy fries and not-as-good-as-I-remembered Gritty sauce. For almost $10, I'm calling this a total bust. Yet another restaurant I can cross off the list for upping price and cutting quality. read more

Maybe I missed something about this place, but after three tries, I just had to stop going back hoping I would finally feel the magic. The burgers are okay, but there are better ones in Madison. The last time we were there, my son's chicken sandwich was overcooked, and they charged more money since he got it on a pretzel bun instead of the regular bun. Our burgers were unremarkable - not that flavorful or moist. The buffalo wings were greasy and actually not hot when we got them. And the last night we were there, a Friday at about 6:00, the place was full and the service was terrible. As in waiting over fifteen minutes after I had piled all the dirty dishes at the end of the table as a hint that we were way done before the server came by wondering if we wanted anything else. And somehow, with four people, no alcoholic drinks, two appetizers, and four sandwiches, our bill was over $70. That's US dollars. Before the tip. They charge extra for everything - ranch on the side, cheese on a burger - everything. For a really marginal meal and lousy service, that was way too much money. read more

I felt a little bit like I was in a Chuck E Cheese due to some nearby birthday shenanigans, but the Texas burger I ordered was a solid 4 stars. In my opinion, this is one of the few restaurants in the area with a genuinely delicious burger. Nitty Gritty is probably not a place I would visit with my husband on a date night, but it's a great place to take the kids! read more

You used to be so much more. Great servers, great food, a place I couldn't wait to return to. The service has been getting progressively worse. Last time I visited, my friend ordered a veggie burger and the wrong toppings were put on it. It was sent back to the kitchen for correction. We were sitting by the window where you could see the food prep. We saw the cook touch raw meat and then saw them touch my friend's burger. This time, the service was abysmal. The waitress even apologized for her lack of attention. Gave us free drinks, and coupons. However, when the restaurant became less crowded, she sat at the bar on her phone. I had to flag down another waitress for assistance. After we finished our meal a different server cleared our dishes And we waited 20 minutes for our check. We never saw our check. read more

This place is usually a fave but the recently its been not so good. The food is passable and the service is pretty slow especially on semi-busy nights. It took our party of 6 two hours to get our food. read more

Meh. This place doesn't suck, but it's not very good. The only time you should really go is if it's your birthday so you can have free beer. Their menu is incredibly boring and extremely overpriced for the quality of ingredients that they use. On my most recent visit, our table got an order of Nachos to share. With chicken, it cost $12.50. It was nothing more than a plate of tortilla chips covered in Day-Glo orange cheese, jalapeno slices, and gray (eww) dried out chicken pieces. I also had a burger as my entree, and the beef tasted a little funky, like it had been reheated in a microwave--almost metallic. My dining partner had a salad that she seemed to enjoy, but it's hard to mess up a simple green salad. Sadly, I've been here more often than I'd like to admit because they host Team Trivia on Tuesday nights. My boyfriend and I decided to start going somewhere else for trivia when we recently won and got a $40 gift certificate and weren't excited to use it because it meant we'd have to try to consume more of their crappy food. We spent it mostly on booze instead. read more

Meh... short review for posterity sake... bland burgers make me sad.wont be going back... unless its my birthday... then its free right?

Nitty Gritty is a decent sports bar with a pretty good atmosphere. It looked like if it is your birthday that this is definitely a good place to be as I think you get free food and drink day of your special day! To start the meal out I went with the cheese curds which honestly were pretty dang good! Great battering and really good dipping sauce! The server steered me towards the Nitty Burger so of course I went won't big Nitty (12oz). To be completely honest the best way I can describe it is it's your typical bar burger. Nothing too crazy, not going to disappoint, but also not going to impress. It was a decent meal but nothing to write home about read more

Delicious pork sandwich with coleslaw and very attentive service at modest prices in a rustic atmosphere

The Gritty doesn't disappoint. Good food, good drinks, and excellent service. The downside? Because of the birthday popularity (unlimited refills of soda or beer on your birthday) this place is always busy. This isn't always the "I can't get a table" busy but it is the loud, "can't hear myself think" busy. Whether it's rowdy college kids, rambunctious 10 year olds, or middle-aged midlife crises, be prepared to spend your meal in silence because you won't be able to hear your dining partner unless they've brought a megaphone. read more

Great burgers and great atmosphere. And hands down the best coleslaw I have ever had in 37 years of life. The steakhouse burger was very good and from the kids corner, the mac and cheese and Abby's grilled cheese were superb. I will return to this fine establishment. read more

The last two times that I've stopped here the service was slow. If it were not for the people I would give them a better review. Lots of staff walking around but not helping customers. On top of that the food has slid to average. Not the same as downtown. I will never eat here again. read more

Great ! Service is helpful! Super kid friendly- balloons for all! My kids really like the giant ice cream sundae!

Good local bar and great staff. I feel like one of the staff every time i am there. Love the Gritty!

I've been coming to the Nitty for years for birthdays. I can't say that I've ever had a remarkable meal, but it's a classic for birthdays in an area that doesn't have any other restaurants close by. Free drinks on your birthday in a free mug. Burgers here are pretty good! read more

I had never been to this location and randomly found myself here for a party. It was great! It was a Friday night and the place wasn't very crowded at all. The staff were so friendly and the food was good! I got a buffalo chicken sandwich and it was delicious. Drinks were cheap, too! Lots of fun shots and cocktails (try a shot-ski!) This is the location to go to. read more

I probably had a different experience because I came here to celebrate my birthday on a Tuesday at 5PM, but the vibe I got was like an adult Chuck E Cheese. You get a glass mug, balloon, mini sundae, and shoutout from the bar for your birthday. The mug gets you unlimited draft beers/cocktails. The food was very greasy and heavy and makes you feel heavy after taking one bite. Not the best quality of bar and grille food and had more of a melancholy vibe than a happy birthday vibe. Of course this could be different if it was an evening occasion downtown. I would definitely try it out once if you haven't been before, but I probably will not come here again. read more

This is my favorite burger place in the world! Service can be hit or miss (usually younger high school aged servers) but the tasty burgers are so worth a trip every time I'm in town! My favorite is the roasted garlic burger with cheese curds. The curds come with a side of gritty sauce for dipping--yum! Recently they have added a $10 burger basket which comes with any burger, fries and beverage! A great deal considering a burger alone is about $10 anyway. Don't forget that on your birthday you drink free all day! Best way to celebrate! read more

Watched the Packers here. Popular place for birthdays. Good food too... Seemed like a draft of smoke came in when the door opened which was annoying... But overall a great environment. read more

Went recently for my own birthday, since I really didn't want to put much thought or effort into planning my party. Even though it was a Friday, we didn't have to wait for a table. Service was prompt and they put up with our group that had people straggling in. I really enjoy their chipotle burger, and another of my group loved how her steamed veggies were cooked. I did get a mixed drink from a friend and it did come tasting weak/watery (I didn't personally order it, so maybe I missed something if I would have looked at the drink menu). The whole experience was good, but not spectacular, at least try it for your birthday once! read more

We always go there to watch games. I dont understand why this place is so underrated. Love their burgers, salads and most importantly the tiny sundae. Service is great and they always send us coupons. If they put more big screen tvs, i will update my rating to 5 stars. read more

It must have been an "off" day...the burgers and sandwiches have always been decent, until the steak sandwich and the cuban. the steak sandwich is a few Dry steak peices plain on a bun, not good. The Cuban would have been great if the pulled pork didn't taste and smell like it was a week old and microwaved. A bit of a shocker since I'm a regular there. read more

The food,service and hospitality is always exceptional. One of the best kept secrets at the Gritty is the grilled Alaskan Sockeye Salmon sandwich. It's the best in town! read more

I do not understand the fuss about this restaurant. Went there on a Friday night with a group of 5. Service was fine. No "build your own" burgers but asked if I could just have a cheeseburger and they were very accommodating. My burger came on a honey wheat sweet bun which I did not care for at all. The worst part of my meal was my fries which looked and tasted like they had been cooked in lukewarm oil. The few I ate left a coating of grease on the roof of my mouth and turned my stomach south. Would have loved some cheese curds but $9 for a handful of cheese curds in the dairy state is preposterous. My husband had the Steakhouse Burger which came on Texas Toast which was in reality some barely warm bread with burger grease coming through it. He said it was not great and his fries were the same as mine. Felt pretty sick after eating here. Did I mention our experience was enhanced by some guy screaming birthday names over a microphone? Definitely will not return. read more

The same excellence you get from the other Nitty Gritty restaurants, only in a smaller, quieter (generally) atmosphere. The Strawberry Fields Salad is not only a clever play on a great Beatles tune, but outstanding. Huge fan of the gorgonzola and Washington apple salad with raspberry vinaigrette (add salmon) too. read more

We called ahead and made a reservation ahead of time. Upon arrival our table was not ready and we had to wait 45 min for the table to be ready. We were on a schedule and this is why we called ahead and made a reservation. Once seated our waiter seemed like he had no serving experience or training, no one was apologetic for the long wait time. The server asked what we would like to drink but, before anyone could answer he would just walk away. It took multiple times of this occurring before anyone had drinks and some of the drinks that were ordered never arrived or were wrong. We told the server we were ready to order as we needed to be out at a specific time, the time I had reserved if sat close or on time to that requested time we would have had 2 hours from start to Finish. After waiting 45 min for a table and now over 20 minutes to get drinks we were at less then a hour to order, eat, pay and leave. Trying to order went the exact same way as trying to order drinks one person would order and he would just walk away, after numerous times waving him down to come back to take everyone's order we finally got all orders in. Food arrived quickly, but no silverware or napkins were given. So once again we had to find the sever to bring us napkins and silverware. No one stopped back to check on us or refill drinks. We had to find the sever to get our checks and multiple checks were not correct. I am a server and I work in a busy restaurant I know that serving can be overwhelming at times and yes mistakes happen. This experience was the worst service I have ever received. I am not sure if it's a training issue, or if he was overwhelmed or if this job is just not for him. I have never had a bad experience at Nitty Gritty before this experience, maybe it was a off day or there is a lack of training or managing of team members. Nitty Gritty is a fun place to be and the food is always good but the service we received during this visit has made me want to visit a different location on my next visit. read more